Thread: D.C. Region Cries for Water

Withered D.C. Region Cries for Water, Cool Water

By Darragh Johnson and Philip Rucker
Washington Post Staff Writers
Wednesday, August 15, 2007; Page A01

On Maryland's Eastern Shore, wells have gone dry and children are bathing from trash cans.

In Alexandria, hundreds of trees have died. In Southern Maryland, nurseries are watching sales wither almost as fast as homeowner's gardens.

And at the National Arboretum, sprinkler systems are running 24 hours a day.

Since the spring, rain has fallen at half its usual levels. The entire Washington region, from Loudoun County to the Chesapeake Bay, is suffering a severe drought. And no immediate relief is in sight.

At Reagan National Airport, 4.19 inches of rain have fallen since June 1. Normal for that period: 8.22 inches.

"The weather has been in a rut," said Douglas Le Comte, a drought specialist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Climate Prediction Center. "We started a dry trend in mid-April and never really caught up."

He blames poetic-sounding but desiccating westerly winds, which have been blowing into the region far more than usual. Ask about why so many westerlies, and he says: "That's just the way Mother Nature is. She gets comfortable in a certain circulation pattern."

Seems even Mother Nature can get mired in the daily grind.

But with summer rainstorms evaporating after a few drops from the sky, the talk in many corners of the area has centered on a single subject: water.

That's especially true on Maryland's Eastern Shore, where more than 100 residents have watched their wells dry up -- in part because the state's largest prison has used almost 10 times its allotted amount of the area's supply, officials said.

The rural communities of Allen and Eden have been hit particularly hard, with some people filling trash cans with water from friends' wells to bathe their children. Pam Hutchinson's well went dry a few weeks ago, and she has since dug one capable of drawing water from deeper underground -- at a cost of more than $5,000 and a torn-up yard.

"This is a disaster," Hutchinson said.

Residents on the lower shore, around Somerset County, say the Eastern Correctional Institution is using too much water from the Manokin aquifer. The prison, which houses 3,350 inmates, is allowed to pump about 25,000 gallons per day. But in recent weeks, Somerset County Administrator Daniel Powell said, water use has risen to more than 200,000 gallons daily.

State prisons spokesman Mark Vernarelli was quick to defend the prisoners, writing in an e-mail, "Our inmates are not taking hour-long showers or flushing water down the drain to waste." He said officials are auditing water use and will develop a plan to reduce use even as Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) announced that Maryland will investigate the well failures.

Other water worries have meant that, at the National Arboretum in Washington, the conifers and magnolias are suffering; oaks in the woods are dying; and staff members are watching the grass turn brown as they save water for the landscape's 200 cultivated acres of plants and trees.

"Every day, all day, all we're doing is watering," supervisory horticulturist Angela Palmer said. "If an irrigation system goes down, it's like the end of the world."

On 250 more acres at the arboretum, unreached by sprinklers or hoses, the grove of state trees -- a collection of trees from each state -- and the glorious ellipse meadow are feeling the Darwinian effects of the drought. "It's survival of the fittest out there," Palmer said grimly.

In Alexandria, 200 trees have died, and more deaths are expected. Although most of the victims have been 1- to 3-year-old saplings, Roger Blakeley, deputy director of the department that manages Alexandria's 944 acres of parkland, said he expects that even the older trees might suffer long-term and permanent damage.

"We'll see a tremendous loss of tree canopy if this continues," he said.

Garden centers are also suffering. Sales at Wentworth Nursery in St. Mary's County are down 25 percent this summer, estimated Mike Wells, the nursery's general manager.

Jan Borchlewicz, 58, of Lexington Park hoped to buy shade for her garden, but as she examined a Tiger Eyes sumac, she remained leery: "There's no sense spending money that you know is just going to burn up. And it's not just the money. It makes me sad to see them die."

But scorched earth today could mean more green in the fall. At the Merrifield Garden Center in Fairfax County, plant specialist David Yost said store employees are bracing for "a big fall season." He expects that customers will be looking in September and October to repair drought-damaged lawns.

What might not be big, or even widely available, are jack-o'-lanterns. Bushwood farmer Kari Ritchey said she is using an irrigation system to try to prevent that possibility.

"A lot of the farmers just have lost everything," she said. "We did get some rain, but it's just too late."

In Mount Airy, Md., which relies on wells, city officials have not only restricted sprinkler use, but they've also given away 20 rain barrels and are preparing to distribute more.

Demand for the rain catchers has been so high that Mount Airy has ordered 100 more from a Gaithersburg company, 75 of which were delivered Sunday. The town has discounted the $120 barrels to $20 each for residents.

But for those barrels to work, there has to be rain. Although tropical storm Dean is expected to be hovering around Puerto Rico by Sunday, there's no guarantee that the Washington region will be basking in an all-day downpour if Dean moves closer. The storm is too far away to accurately forecast its itinerary, National Weather Service meteorologist Sarah Rogowski said.

"Our next chance for showers-thunderstorms is Thursday night," she said, "and that's 30 percent."

Which is a 70 percent chance of no rain.

By Friday, the area will be back to sunny days. Highs in the 80s. Lovely weather.

But it won't resuscitate the trees

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HMMMMMMMMM, maybe getting rid of thousands of illegals would help ease the water crunch?????????

Getting rid of illegals will assist in the overcrowding of our roads, the increase to welfare system, the crowding of school systems which could not predict the number of illegals in the country, decrease of gas and oil used in America which legal americans are blamed for the increased. So many issues could be solved with the removal of the illegals.

Yes, bring in more immigrants from all over the world to put more strain on our infrastructer and use our resources. AAHHH our government is so intelligent



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